Amazing offerings: Churches give and give and give for ministry
Members give offerings for Sudan at
Annual Conference.
Two weeks after Annual Conference, the money is still rolling in for two offerings benefitting ministries in Sudan and Holston.
The Holston Annual Conference was held June 8-11 in Lake Junaluska, N.C., with a goal of raising $125,000 for Hope for the Children of Sudan. On June 11, Holston churches had already surpassed that goal, giving more than $171,000 to build a school and clinic and to fight disease, poverty, and hunger in Yei, Sudan.
By June 20, the total had climbed to $178,921.
By June 25, the total had soared to $186,234. The treasurer's office reports that checks are still arriving.
"Hallelujah!" Bishop James Swanson e-mailed conference staff when he learned the most recent total. "What a mighty God we serve and what wonderfully generous people the Holston United Methodists are!"
Change for Children, an effort inviting members to collect loose change for children's ministry, also logged a record-setting offering at Annual Conference. By June 11, churches had given $60,011 – an amount $10,000 higher than the 2007 total.
By June 25, the total collected for Change for Children had increased nearly another $10,000 – to $69,244.
Change for Children offerings are divided between children's ministries in Holston, and those in Sudan. At Annual Conference, 19 Holston groups representing 10 districts received Change for Children grants.
The grand total for Annual Conference offerings – so far – is $255,478.
Read more in The Call
- March 2008: Holston's partnership mission in south Sudan (PDF)
- January 2008: Recipients of 2007 Change for Children grants (PDF)
- AC- June 11, 2008: Recipients of 2008 Change for Children grants (PDF)
